


Friends In High Places Yield Kind Faces

by Lorein_nur



Series: High Places, Kind Faces [1]
Category: DC Animated Universe, Justice League & Justice League Unlimited (Cartoons), Justice League - All Media Types
Genre: A little Before Justice League, Batman/Bruce tries to help, Gen, He means good, M/M, The Rogues (DCU) As Family, Wally emotional whump, Wally is an identity impersonator, Wally is riding solo, Young Justice events never happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-21
Updated: 2018-03-30
Packaged: 2018-12-18 08:56:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 5,417
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11870919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lorein_nur/pseuds/Lorein_nur
Summary: As far as Central City knew, Flash wasn't the one that died in the last world ending dilemma, Kid Flash did. As far as Wally West is concerned the world needs The Flash a lot more than it needs the Kid, so he's working with what he's got, in complete disregard for his own feelings on the matter.





	1. Start

Usually, Wally was a man quick to smile, to laugh at the ridiculousness of any situation, or be the one to proffer the humor when needed. As of late, however, he didn’t really seem to have time to express to the world his joy.  Much less the energy, and when one became aware of this young adults background, well the very notion was laughable. The Flash, had no energy? Insane! Ludicrous! But it wasn't. Not when you factored in, University, his job as a mechanic for the police department in order to pay for the courses he was taking plus rent and food, and being a hero on call 24/7, be it night or day, sun or rain, he had to go. And really that just ended up making him have to skip classes from time to time, and the work that came from that in order to not fail the course as a whole was maddening.

 

Sure he could always ask one of his fellow leaguers for help, ask them to take over one of his shifts at the watchtower, or step in for him when he couldn't, like a day he had a test. But that's just the thing, they didn't know. No one knew his real age, they all assumed he was Uncle Barry, the original Flash. But he wasn't. He was Wally West 19-year-old University student, and he was running himself into the ground with all the work and responsibilities he had.

\-----------------------------

"-ally, Wally, _Wally_!"

 

"Wha?"

 

"Come on kid, get your head out of the clouds and help me set this up."

 

Oh, right, he was supposed to help Cob with the new pipework.

 

"Coming!"

 

He set down the cardboard box he was carrying out of the boiler room near the doors entrance and turned around. The enclosure was big but lacked proper lighting in Wally's opinion, and it was damp, well more like jungle cave humid. A blue packet with blueprints was thrown his way. The fastest man alive in disguise caught it with ease but none the less shot Cobb a dirty look. He was sat on the floor, front facing the complex but now rusty pipework that lined the concrete brick wall.

 

"What? You're smarter than me, so help me figure this out."

 

"I´m not smarter than you." Wally was quick to reply, still, he opened the rolled up blueprints and took a seat next to his grumpy mentor on the cracked tile floor.

 

"Sure you aren't kid," Cob teased, waving a screwdriver between them. The constant puffs of released air worked as their  background noise. It's only interruption the occasional echo of moving bodies above them.

 

"I'm not" Wally insisted around a growing smile. "Anyway, it say's here we gotta start by-"

 

The led lights above them went off. The room was brought back to life in a garish neon red, courtesy of the pressure alarm going off. An ear bleeding screech accompanied it. The pressure regulators around the room started going off, one pop after another. The glass was being thrown around on a whim.  Cob was quick to stand up, but in his haste stumbled and had to take hold of one of the pipes. His startled scream reverberated against the walls, the smell of burnt flesh followed it.

 

_"Cob!"_

 

"I'm fine, go!"

 

Wally reached out and took hold of the man's elbow and dragged him out of the room and up the stairs. And if maybe he added a bit of super speed to the actions, well there was a reason Cob was scheduled to get glasses soon.

 

\----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Up at the main office of the police station, cops were running around madly. Some to answer 911 calls, others to gear up or climb onto cars.

 

"What's going on?" Wally asked a passing officer, she turned around with wide worried eyes.

 

"It's the Rogues"


	2. Could've Fooled You

He knew the moment he showed up that he wasn’t The Flash. Sure he wore his costume, and he had the same body built, but the personality wasn’t the same. The man he'd gotten used to fighting was more serious, this one cracked a joke every 5 minutes or so. But what really gave it away was the cloud of grief that he carried with him, so no this wasn’t The Flash, but that didn’t mean he had no connection to the original one.

Len remembered, seven years back Flash was spotted with a kid in a red and yellow suit, the familiar lightning bolt front and center on his chest. He’d been training, stumbling around with his powers like a baby deer on it’s long, long legs. He’d thought it cute. So had the others.  
Whenever they met in costume, they went easy on the kid. Sure they put on airs of seriousness, and sometimes there control did slip, but, no real harm was ever done, and when the kid beat them he went home with a proud smile. Flash was never far behind.

A few month’s back the world had gone into code red. Simultaneous invasions were happening around the globe, both speedsters had answered the call. By that point Kid Flash wasn’t that little anymore, he was still reckless for sure, and the rest of the Rogues made an attempt to treat him the same, but Kid had begun to reach a whole new level when it came to his powers. The lightning running through his veins was becoming more prominent. So, an attack had occurred in Canada, up in Baffin Bay, Flash and the Kid had done their part, they'd run like hell and stopped a climate crisis, but at a cost.

Both speedsters had tapped into the Speedforce, and by the time another hero arrived to check in on them neither was found. It wasn’t until two weeks after the crisis was evaded that The Flash made an appearance, the Kid never showed up. The Rogues had mourned in their own way the loss of their surrogate little brother, they'd laid inactive for months...until now. And just like Len knew after all these years how Flash acted in battle, he also knew how his Kid acted, and this man he was fighting, he wasn't Flash, he was Kid, their Kid. Guess the report's got it wrong after all.  
\--------------------------------------

Cold shot his gun once, twice, at Flash's booted feet, the ice was quick to work at detaining the speedster.

"Sam, open a portal." Mirror Master looked at him perplexed but did as told.

"The rest of you, file out, and don't bother with the money."

"But Len-" Mick tried to protest but was quickly shut up by one of Captain Cold's legendary glares.

He walked along with the other through the mirror portal, confusion in every member's mind. Flash didn't look any better, a frown marred his face, Kid looked better with a smile in Lens opinion, he was also still working on getting his feet free from the ice, they'd have to work on that; it wouldn't due to have him bested so easily. Captain Cold made his way to the portal, and only stopped to look back after the first crack of ice was heard.

"It's good to have you back Kid" Len said, before breaching the final distance between him and temporary freedom. The Flash stood still for a moment, looking by all the world as lost as ever, before flashing away back home. He still had evening classes after all.

\--------------------------------------------------

"So you gonna explain what the hell happened back there?" Mick always quick to temper.

Len took off his heavy blue coat and glasses, leaving them to rest on the sofa within their safe house. The other Rogues waited in rapt attention. James being the only one constantly fidgeting with the zipper of his garishly colorful jacket.

"Well?" Mick insisted, tension clearly rolling off his shoulders.

Len turned, dark eyes cold.

"That wasn't Flash"

"What do you mean that wasn't Flash, of course, he was, we all saw him!"

"We saw Kid in his costume" Len deadpanned.

Silence

"Baby Flash?" James whispered, awed realization coating his words.

"Baby Flash" Len agreed, a shadow of a smile briefly appearing on his stone hard face.

"Damn" Mick practically whispered.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to leave any comments or kudo's! 
> 
> Ps. Not obligatory though, it's only if you liked the chapter. :)


	3. Somethings Off

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, I am so sorry for the insane delay in chapter updates, I got major writer's block and then life's responsibilities caught up with me, but I'm back, and hopefully, chapters will start to flow out from now on.

The world had nearly ended due to an alien invasion, the first time they'de stopped it he'd been foolish enough to believe it was over, too grief bound after the loss of Uncle Barry and Aunt Iris's unfortunate involvement. Two weeks later the real invasion began. After the fight was truly done and over with the Justice League was born, and he was among them, the founding seven. And only he knew that his role was a farce, he didn't deserve to be amongst these titans, he was coining in on another's hard work, and he hated doing that. But-but if not him, then who was left to honor Barry's memory? Who was left to honor and carry the mantle of The Flash? No one, so he bared with it a forced on a smile for the crowd.

\-----------------

"Bye Wally, see you Monday!"

Was cheerfully called out to his quickly retreating back. He turned around for a second, only to raise his hand in a returned gesture of farewell. Normally Wally would have taken the time to socialize with his peers and friends, but after what happened at the polices station, and later on, at the bank, well, the whole situation just didn't seem right. Sure, the Rogues were criminals, and the occasional casualty occurred, not that anyone was killed though, worst case scenario someone was sent to the hospital due to frostbite, or more often than not 2nd-degree burns. But, the whole boiler room going off on them like that...something was wrong, and he was going to find out what it was.

\------------------

"Night Officers!"

Heads turned as The Flash went strutting into the police station, red and yellow suit blinding to the tired eyes of those dealing with that weeks night shift. The Flash just kept waving at passing officers, big smile firm in place and a clear path in mind.

"Uh, Mr. Flash sir, may I help you with something?"

The Flashes smile and body tensed for a second, too fast to be noticed by the others around the room. With forced calm, Wally turned his suit-clad body and faced the buffy armed navy-clad officer.

"Hey there bud, uh I was just uh."

And that's when it hit him, Wally walking into the police station at 9:00 pm would be an interesting sight, but it would not bring forth too much attention, The Flash doing the same with the intent to go into another's working area without clearance was just... _off._ But being the fastest man alive did mean he was fast on his feet, in more than a literal sense. So with a clear of his throat and a fist to his lips, Wall- _The Flash_ , threw his arm around the man's shoulders startling him into further awakeness and rapidly began to talk into his ear.

"See, I was wondering if you guys could help me out here, see with the whole Rogue robbing a bank but leaving it without any of the money well...you can see how that's just odd right? Right! So I just, uh, I was wondering if you could I don't know, give me clearance to the surveillance tapes? I know for a fact that you guy's have those in custody know right? As evidence!"

And just for the hell of it, he threw in his lady killer grin/puppy eye combo, so what if he was talking to a guy, his signature move worked either way.

"Uh R-Right!, it's this way Mr. Flash"

And without further ado, The Flash had successfully coerced, and to Wally's unending amusement made stutter and blush a man of the law. The farther both men walked into the inner workings of the police station, the dimmer the corridors became. The led lights above them gave off an eerie glow on the grayed linoleum floor. A variety of keyboard typing and indistinguishable voices talking could be dully heard coming from the sparsely spaced doors they did pass down the halls they meandered.  Door after door, they crossed until finally, they stopped, it was time to figure out what the Rogues had been planing.  

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guy 's so much for waiting for me to get back, and I hope this chapter made up for the wait!  
> Ps. Wally will flirt to get what he wants...
> 
> Oh! One last thing, I'll be gone on holiday's for approximately two weeks, so I won't be able to post a new chapter until I come back, sorry for the inconvenience! And Merry Christmas and New Year!


	4. Best Laid Plans

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back, and I'm sorry this took so long to write!

Wally lay sprawled along the washed out burgundy couch of his tiny brownstone apartment. His neck and head were rested on the threadbare armrest, an outdated box TV  was sat on top a chipped wooden chair, and lay turned off for the evening, more a desire to allow his muddled thoughts to further fester without the daily mundanity of news networks and they're reporters prattling about than a conscious effort to save on that month's electricity budget. The majority of the apartments lightbulbs lay turned off, as a further consensus to the decision of perpetual silence and darkness being the key to proper thinking. That and the mild but persistent headache that kept thumping against his temples despite his best efforts to quiet it. And sure, the lab and lighting "accident" might have granted him just like his late uncle accelerated healing, but that still did little when the afflicted area was hurting not due to actual injury but rather a change in chemical activity within the brain, and his overdeveloped metabolism pretty much discarded any form of medication from being of any use.  

 

So there he was, laying on his beat-up couch, in his lonely apartment at 1:03 in the morning, temples pounding and a new ample amount of questions to be answered. Well, at least one question had been answered thought Wally dejectedly, the faintest indication of a grin briefly passing over the corner of his lips. It hadn't been the Rogues who set the city's water pipeline into an overheated frenzy, or more specifically, it hadn't been Heatwave who, as he'd originally assumed, based on what  the startled cop he'd run into said when the boiler room he'd been working in had gone into a neon-tinged hell. Nope, the bank's footage showed that Mick-Heatwave had been with the rest of the Rogues from start to abrupt finish.  So, that posed the following questions:

 

Who was behind the city's pipeline outburst?

Why even target the pipeline?

What was the end game?

 

Wally let out a frustrated groan, both his hands rising to meet the freckled skin of his face, only to be dragged down in exasperation, pulling it taught over his skull.  Damn it, he was a college student majoring in forensics part-timing as a mechanic for the CCPD to even be able to afford the courses, he lived on a strict budget and worked daily as the city,  _ ney _ the worlds vigilante under the guise of his late mentor's emblem; he wasn't a detective!  Wally's rapidly thought processes came to a stop, his breath hitching to a halt, eye-widening with the epiphany.  _ He _ may be no detective, but that didn't mean he didn't know one, or more specifically the detective  _ of all  _ detectives. A salacious smile made its way up his lips.

 

\-----------------------------------

 

Bruce stared with narrowed blue eyes at the assembly of computer screens within the Batcave, the light they produced a glare to his overworked corneas, the plethora of information constantly shifting, thus displaying upon the monitor's new fragments of information in regards to one of several recurring themes/topics, 

 

  1. Assaults and Robberies
  2. Gang Activity
  3. Arkham Breakouts 
  4. A-list Criminal Sightings
  5. World Crisis



 

All segmented within there proper category and with an alarm set to pop up in respect to its importance. However tonight those matters weren't the ones taking up Gothams Knight's full attention, the schematics for what would soon become a functioning Watchtower for the recently formed congregation of superheroes was. Thus, in plain sight, for all to see the general layout was being presented to its rather generous...benefactor on the centermost flat screen, blueprints and renders taking turns being laid out. 

 

The directors of Wayne Enterprises had been hounding him for an explanation as to were such a large sum of money had been transferred since the transaction had been made nearly a month ago. Bruce had brushed their inquiries aside by declaring it a part of the aerospace R&D budget, leaving no further room for argument, and if the old bastards still had a problem with it well, they could take it up with Fox.  Leaning back in his chairs recliner, arms and neck finally allowed the respite of a stretch, the bones and joints aligning his spine and shoulders popped and cracked loudly within the caves suffocating silence. The billionaire let out a tired sight before pushing himself and the chair he was sat on away from the desk and standing in one fluid motion. The infamous cowl laid off his head, allowing the man's black hair to be shown. He walked with his costumes cape billowing in a decadent fashion behind his imposing figure, the tips just barely brushing over the harsh floor. 

 

Behind him, the computer screens continued their minutely report, the Batman logo overriding the classic W for Wayne, the files for the Watchtower project once again encrypted and nearly impossible to retrieve. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you so much for being patient with me, and sticking around. I honestly did not intend to go so long without posting a new chapter, so again, sorry about that, still I hope this makes up for lost time. 
> 
> Feel free to kudo or comment! I really appreciate both, but again it's totally up to you! 
> 
> Thanks again! :)


	5. Assembly

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So...I'm back early ;)

Managing contact with the band of Superheros that assisted him in saving the world had been a lesson in patience all on its own. He'd had to resort to the basics in order to find them, admittedly  Superman and Flash were the easiest, seeing as they were known about heroes with their own cities to protect, they were established, predictable even in their routines, it was both woman and green themed hero's that took him longer to search out. It really shouldn't have come as a surprise that the man of blue and red would be the one to take in Earth's newest alien, and as a side note Clark really should work harder in keeping his identity secret, the glasses just weren't cutting it. He located John Stewart shortly after, the man's entire body language had been screaming of a military background, so he'd done his research, and found the ex-Marine to be located in a one-floor house in Detroit, his childhood home. Hawkgirl came next, sightings of the winged woman throughout the span of a year had been what lead him to locate her to Midway City Michigan. The Amazonian princess had been the hardest; he'd ended up setting facial scanners to do the grunge work for him, these being connected to every security camera in every city in every state, and after a week and a half...he'd found her. Diana Prince, roommate to Steven Rockwell Trevor, U.S. Navy SEAL, and current residency Washington D.C. 

 

Oddly enough of all the investigating he'd done, this could be considered the only moment in which Gotham's Knight had not been as thorough as one would expect of him.  It could have been the long hours of research, the recurring nightmares that plagued him, or even the knowledge that the next time earth was under siege they would not succeed, in protecting it if working alone, or maybe it had just been the speedster naturally disarming personality what had inevitably thrown him off. Regardless of the true reason behind the man's inattentiveness, of all the names on the list, of all the files he'd constructed based on them, on their powers and abilities, of their true origin, the only one he did not pay the necessary attention to, was the Flash. And that was how on the file he'd built around the speedster, the face that appeared when one of several documents revolving around the red-clad man, including his civilian place of work, and the request for an extended period of vacations due to recent marriage, was not the image of Wallace Rudolph West, but rather that of one now deceased Bartholomew Henry Allen.  

 

\---------------------

 

Nearly a week and a half had gone by, and Wally had still not built up the courage to go and ask Gothams Bat for help; But...could you blame him? The man was infamous for running metahumans out of his city, and last time he checked, he was a meta. So, he'd remained in Central dealing with whatever he actually could, that being:

 

Robberies/Heists

Attempts at Harassment

Regular visits to orphanages

 

Oddly enough the Rogues had yet to surface after their abrupt encounter, not that he wasn't glad they weren't causing any trouble, but, the whole interaction had left a bitter taste in his mouth, and a sense of uncertainty deeply rooted within him. The way Len-  _ Captain Cold _ had referred to him, it left him wondering, had he known? Had Wally been that,  _ that transparent? _ God's he hoped not, it was bad enough he was still processing the fact that his only real family was gone, he didn't need the added guilt of being a poor replacement to the original, to the real legend. So, he kept trying, after the flunk that the Bank robbery tape had been, Wally had opted to apply what he had learned from is night classes, and from what Barry had taught him. He'd done what research he could and taken a little field trip to all the affected areas from the pipe outburst...they were a lot. 

  
And, as it turns out, being the Flash didn't mean he got an automatic pass into seeing all the camera recordings from the affected areas, no matter how much asking, hell even begging he did in order to just get a  _ glimpse  _ at what had happened that evening.  Being shut down so quickly by so many had been frustrating, really, _ really _ damn frustrating, because it made him feel impotent like he wasn't doing enough, he wasn't doing Uncle Barry and God's,  _ Aunt Iris _ , justice in his attempt as the Flash. He just...he couldn't do it, not alone, and that revelation stung, but nothing hurt more than the truth that Wally West as the Flash, wasn't good enough. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tada, more Wally Whump! Poor baby need's to get some well-deserved self-esteem, in my opinion, what about you guys?
> 
> Ps. As always, thank you for reading! And feel free to comment or kudo, both are alway's appreciated.
> 
> :)


	6. Data is key

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Took longer than what I had planned to get this out, but it's finally here!  
> Please enjoy!

Len had known for years who's face lay behind the scarlet cowl, but as a  professional courtesy, he had never dared use that information to his advantage, until now.  It was, according to the digital clock being displayed in the right corner of his laptop 3:45 am. The synthetic light of the screen was glaring off the lenses of his reluctantly purchased glasses, note, Lisa had manhandled him to the store, and his hands were rapidly typing, eyes scrolling through a plethora of government files, all in regards to one Barry Allen, and his personal life. The hard part hadn't been to dissect the needed information for the little project he had in mind, no, hacking into the FBI’s Records Management Division without Hartleys help had.  None the less, he'd managed it, and quickly downloaded what he could before the site crashed on him. He'd uttered a foul curse under his breath after that'd happened, and worked fast to erase all traces to him, he'd still be trashing the laptop and dispersing all the traceable bits, but for now...he was safe and successful. 

 

Bartholomew Henry Allen, son too Nora Allen (deceased) and Henry Allen (life sentenced for Nora's death at Iron Heights). Married to Iris West - Allen, legal guardian of Wallace Rudolph West (Wally for short). 

 

\------------------------

 

Hartley Rathaway,  Sam Scudder, James Jesse, Mick Rory and George "Digger" Harkness were all sat around the cheap wooden table of safe house #4 as per requested by Len via phone call on there designated burner’s. Hartley was twitching in his chair, anxiety slowly coiling its way out of his pours, his hands lay flat on the table's surface, fingers itching to move and take over whatever new adjustment Mick had decided to inflict upon his heat gun, Sam was non committedly offering his own tidbits of advice, these were answered with off-handed grunts. Rationality was the only thing keeping him from just reaching over and confiscating the sophisticated piece of machinery from the convict because rationally, he knew that if he had done just that well...he might end up with broken fingers. 

 

Still, the possibility of a distraction was tempting, his hearing implants were acting up again, they were in desperate need of an upgrade, but without the funds or the proper equipment at his disposal, Hartley was left to do little more than endure the pain. With the implants malfunctioning, sounds were not being filtered properly, thus any and all vibrations were being translated without any finesse, that is to say, they were multiplied in their intensity to the point they were causing his eardrums to pulse with unwanted swelling, and every little noise was agony. 

 

Enter the bane of his existence, the mentally unstable James who was sat to his direct right. Now normally under any other circumstance, this being that his hearing implants were working properly James's enthusiasm in every little aspect of their lives would not have been such an inconvenience. However, due to his current situation, James being well  _ James _ , he was really just becoming an incentive for a swift death. If Hartley’s body movement could be described as twitching, James could be described as outright body spasms, the man was a fucking moving mass of limbs and colorfully eye blinding fabrics. He just couldn't stay still, and he wouldn't stop whining with his far too high pitched voice for a 40 something-year-old man, conclusion, Heartly either wanted him gone, or to be gone, whichever could be accomplished the fastest suited him just fine, and by the sly look Digger was throwing his way it looked like the bastard knew what he was thinking, but would do nothing to intervene in whatever action was ultimately taken, he was just gonna sit back and take gratuitous sips from his third beer that morning. 

 

James made another aborted effort at speaking, his words being swallowed down but the noise of intelligible gargle still escaping and being brutally unfiltered into Heartleys ears.  If it hadn't been for Len deciding that was the moment to do his dramatic entrance, James would have been on the floor with Heartly making a valiant attempt at choking him with his noodle arms. As it was Len strut forward with all the confidence in the world towards the gathered Rogues, shoulders back, not  a hunch to be shown, hair closely cut to his scalp as was his form, the only detail that threw the image of power that Len exuded off, were the dark bags that hung under his far too blue eyes. A manila folder was being casually held in his right hand before being dropped over the surface of the table, the resounding bang of air being compressed due to two objects meeting just helped to irritate Heartley even more.  

 

"Start reading." 

 

No further incentive was needed.

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So no Wally or Bat's in this chapter, but at least one of them was mentioned! Hehe... Still I hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully, I'll get the new chapter out sooner! As always kudos and comments are greatly appreciated and happily received. 
> 
> Little bonus, my question of the day,
> 
> What do you guy's think Len's planning? ;)


	7. First Impressions

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Back again!! Woo, I think that makes it the third update within the month right? Well, here you go, hope you enjoy!

The date on Hartley’s cell phone screen read as follows:

19th of September, 2018

 

To be more precise, it was 4:30  Wednesday afternoon, and the man was equipped with nothing more than his designer leather wallet, and an inconspicuous black backpack, which carried inside to his irritation the scant items of his laptop and charger. He was dressed in a pair of tight-fitting denim jeans, striped black and white shirt with those irritating little pockets sewn into its front, along with his go-to combat boots and a smart black jacket left unbuttoned. If he was being honest with himself he looked nice. Sure the glasses resting on the bridge of his nose had seen better days, but still, the whole ensemble as a whole was a rather refreshing one, it made him look, dare he stay it...younger and that, according to Len, was exactly what they were going for.

 

Dumbass that he was he’d agreed to Len’s plan with little hesitation, which was exactly why he was standing on the front steps of Central University, just mere moments away from entering the building and posing as a new student. Mind you, he wasn't happy with the plan per se, but, even he had to admit that it was a good one...just like all of Len's other plans tended to be, planned out and thought out to the last detail. So, he held his breath and swallowed down his pride and walked up the building's steps.

\------------------

 

He’d been less than an hour inside the building, and he was already fed up with everyone's general stupidity. The lady at the main reception desk had taken a solid 15 minutes to figure out where his actual career department offices were. Ones she’d had, she ended up giving him the wrong directions to boot, making him waste another 7 minutes walking from point A to false point B. He'd been made aware of this mistake, courtesy of the lovely gentleman who worked as the head of that department, the engineering unit; and by lovely, he meant downright assholish, because the man had just glanced at him cooley before shrugging off, turning around and absently waving his hand in dismissal, telling him in minced words that he was “In the wrong building kid, go back to central”.

 

With a frustrated groan, Hartley exited the building and marched his way to the closest bench where he promptly sat down with a huff. He balled up the little piece of paper with the false directions and stuffed it unceremoniously in his jeans front left pocket, using his right hand to pull out his phone from within his jacket, thus resorting himself to googling up the school's map for the correct building, designated for Forensic Sciences and Criminology majors. Hartley was a tap away from entering his search into the little bar displayed on his phone's screen when a harried-looking teen ran in front of him, brown curls, poorly patterned scar flying behind him.

 

“Hurry up Wally, I don’t wanna be late, _again!_ ” He shouted over his shoulder, barely sparing a glance to the redhead that was just a meter or two behind, decked out in black jogging pants, the bottoms hugging the ankles, a loose white tee shirt, and grey converse, the left's shoelaces left untied. He was carrying a forest green messenger bag over his right shoulder, the weight of which seemed to be dragging him down, he made a valiant attempt to keep pace with his dark-skinned companion, but an uneven gravel step in his path made him stumble, forcing him to push his whole body weight forward and miss-step. His right shoe met the loose lace of his left, the momentum making him fall.

 

There before him lay the kid whose life profile he, along with the other five members of the Rogues, he'd read religiously studied just a little over a week ago, and damn if the sight wasn't worth pitying. The kid's friend had left him, completely unaware of the others mishap, he'd just kept on going, while the other was struggling to his knees, Heartley, thou sorry for the kid, couldn't help but to send a silent thank you to his lucky stars for such a stroke of luck, on his part that is. So half feigning concern, he got up from his seat on the grainy bench and hastily approached the downed speedster.  

 

"Hey, that was a nasty fall, you ok?" Hartley said while crouching down in front of the other, right hand entering the motion of being extended. The redhead moved, and before he knew it, he was being pierced by the biggest and greenest pair of eyes he had ever seen in his whole damn life, eyelash too thick and long to belong to a guy framing the eyes and a splattering of little freckles all over the kid's cheeks and the bridge of his nose completed the ensemble. Fuck. The kid was blushing now and giving him a sheepish smile. 

  
"Yeah...hehe," That was it, that was all that came out of his mouth and Hartley was still feeling like he was seconds away from having a heart attack, this was not part of the plan, finding his supposed ward... _ cute _ , was a huge no-no. Not only in his books, but in Lens, and _ fuck _ , if that wasn't a scary thought;  _ if Len found out _ ...well shit. He coughed awkwardly and made haste to righten himself on his feet, fully extending his hand to the body kneeling before him. The kid,  _ Wally _ took his hand, he pulled him up. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always thank you for taking the time to read! Kudos and comments are alway's appreciated and responded to, so feel free to do whichever you want, or none, it's up to you! Have an amazing Easter break!
> 
> This chapters question
> 
> What are your thoughts on the Rogues plan, did you see it coming?

**Author's Note:**

> Was that an ok start?   
> Please let me know your thoughts and opinions! :)


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